Abstract
Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is threatened across its range by detrimental human activities and rapid habitat changes necessitating captive breeding programs in various zoos globally to save this flagship species from extinction. One of the ultimate aims of ex situ conservation is reintroduction of endangered animals into their natural habitats while maintaining 90 % of the founder genetic diversity. Advances in molecular genetics and microsatellite genotyping techniques make it possible to accurately estimate genetic diversity of captive animals of unknown ancestry. Here we assess genetic diversity of the red panda population in Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling, which plays a pivotal role in ex situ conservation of red panda in India. We generated microsatellite genotypes of fifteen red pandas with a set of fourteen loci. This population is genetically diverse with 68 % observed heterozygosity (HO) and mean inbreeding (FIS) coefficient of 0.05. However population viability analysis reveals that this population has a very low survival probability (<2 %) and will rapidly loose its genetic diversity to 37 % mainly due to small population size and skewed male-biased sex ratio. Regular supplementation with a pair of adult individuals every five years will increase survival probability and genetic diversity to 99 and 61 % respectively and will also support future harvesting of individuals for reintroduction into the wild and exchange with other zoos.
Highlights
Red panda (Ailurus fulgens), known as the lesser panda, is one of earth’s living fossils and its ancestors can be traced back to more than ten million years ago across Eurasia (Mayr 1986)
In this study we describe the genetic diversity of captive red pandas in Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP), Darjeeling, with a panel of fourteen microsatellite loci and project the viability of this population to maintain founder genetic diversity in the captive-bred individuals for a period of 100 years
Genotypes obtained with a minimum of eleven loci were sufficient to generate genetic diversity parameters effectively
Summary
Red panda (Ailurus fulgens), known as the lesser panda, is one of earth’s living fossils and its ancestors can be traced back to more than ten million years ago across Eurasia (Mayr 1986). Red panda populations are sporadically distributed in bamboo forests of Himalayan and Heng-Duan mountains in Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Southwestern China (Su et al 2001; Li et al 2005). These populations continue to drastically decline across their habitats due to hunting, poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation (Wei et al 1999; Choudhury 2001; Jha 2011). Phylogeography and genetic diversity of red panda (Su et al 2001; Li et al 2005; Hu et al 2011) opens more opportunities to study current trends in wild red panda populations
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